Reply to the question if the wages of the Mentally Challenged Children are too Low

Regarding what published on the newspaper that National Assembly held a press conference, pointing out that the mentally challenged children working in restaurants run by Children Are Us Foundation in Taipei City Government had got too low wages, the Council of Labor Affairs points that part of the mentally and physically disabled people could not work on normal positions due to lack of working ability and can only work in sheltered workshops where there are trainings or instructions by professional personnel, so the operation system of the sheltered workshops is really different from normal positions, and both the operation performance of the sheltered workshops and the physically disabled people’s labor rights must be considered equally.

According to Article 33 of “Protection Law for Physically and Mentally Disabled People”, the employment of mentally and physically disabled people shall follow the principle of equal pay for equal work, any discriminatory treatment is prohibited, and that the pay of mentally and physically disabled people for normal work hours shall not be lower than the basic wage. In the event the output is insufficient, the wage can be properly reduced, but the not reduced to below 70％ of the normal wage.

The Council of Labor Affairs points that though some mentally and physically disabled people have the ability to work, their limitations result in insufficient output, so the sheltered occupational services should be provided. Mentally and physically disabled people entering sheltered workshops still need to receive trainings and technical instructions and even cultivation of working behaviors and living instructions, therefore, they need to work under instruction of professional personnel and technical instructors, they cannot work independently, so besides costs for site, facilities and personnel as that of normal positions, the operation costs of the sheltered workshops should include charges for related professional personnel, which makes their operation costs higher than normal positions.

Regarding the question whether the wages of the mentally challenged children are too low, the Council of Labor Affairs considers that it should be decided after Taipei City Government learning about the operation incomes and expenditures, personal output of the physically disabled people and the wage system.